I'm Dreaming of a Shatterproof Christmas

IIIIIIII'm dreaming of a
Shatterprooooooof Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the bright orbs glisten
And kittens listen
As IIII'm pleading, "No! Down! Noooooo!"

I had a sneaking suspicion that decorating the tree this year was going to be a bit... different... than other years.And I had barely assembled my nifty artificial tree when-- "BOINK!"-- Harry the Five Month Old Kitten appeared within its branches to demonstrate the reason I had thought going "shatterproof" in terms of Christmas ornaments this year was a pretty darned good idea.

It was nice of me, he felt, to put up this giant climbing wall for him.

"Tree kittens? I don't see any tree kittens! Where?"

Then there was the little question of adding the garland. I had some... um... help this year, but I suspect this kind of help will be more useful when it comes to taking down the tree instead of putting it up.
However, what I didn't suspect was that after a certain amount of requisite batting and climbing and biting, my furred buddies would lose interest entirely in favor of a few empty ornament boxes and a bit of Christmas ribbon. And I would be allowed to actually decorate the thing, and keep the decorations on...And it's still standing this morning!

I know. Shocking, right?
My optimism led me to decorate a tiny pink tree to put on top of my refrigerator, out of the reach (maybe) of touchy-feely paws.

I had found at Tuesday Morning some glass Alice in Wonderland ornaments from the same artist that did my dishes. So with them, and some mushrooms, top-hats and teapot ornaments K-Mart had had (completely unrelated to any Alice theme) I pulled this colorful little jobbie together.

You can see the White Rabbit, Queen's card men and a jingly little mushroom here...

And the Hat, Alice and the Cheshire Cat dressed as a snowman here.

Lastly, one of the teapots and the Hatter himself...
After all this, I guess I don't need to tell you, we were all pretty tired out...
Thank goodness for Trader Joe's shopping bags. They have a million and one uses.

Take care folks, and I hope you all aren't shattered from too much pre-Christmas activity.

Christmas Lite: Diminished Decorating for Curious Paws

Longtime readers of The Thrift Shop Romantic know I tend to go all out when Christmas comes around, with decorated theme trees in most of my rooms and no surface left undecked.

But this year, with the addition of my kittens Alice and Harry (particularly Harry) I am unsure how delicate decor will fare under the attentions of curious paws. For to them life is bright and new and terribly, terribly battable.

Yes, Harry, I am talking about you...

So I'm planning on doing Christmas Lite this year, with only one main tree in my livingroom and decked in shatterproof Christmas balls-- just to be on the safe side.

I'm trying to keep most temptations up off the floor and away from tasting tongues and poking paws.

I'm going with a sort of candy-colored theme this year in my diningroom... layering red, mint-green and pink onto my table and mantle...
My opalescent Moonstone Anchor Hocking china seemed a frosting-like contrast to the sweet colors.

And it gave me a chance to display some cardboard houses that look tempting, but likely taste a bit bland...

You can see a close-up of those here...
Shatterproof balls in a bowl feature as the centerpiece...
And three different colored tablecloths get a tiered petticoat look when secured with a vintage pin...This allows me to have red in the usually pink and mint-green color scheme of the room, without it being too dominant.

In the entryway to the room's left, I've swagged some simple garland along with bottlebrush wreaths from an end of last season clearance...

And my usual transferware pieces on this shelf are replaced with more cardboard village pieces...
Ah, but still, even with the best laid plans, you cannot predict what will happen when Godzilla rises from the deep to stomp the Christmas village...
Fortunately, all the villagers seem all right-- just suffering from a little post-traumatic stress.

Now I'm wondering what it will be like when I set up the tree...

Wish me luck!